Gus Malzahn’s tenure at Auburn came to an end in 2020, but the seeds of his downfall were sown well before that — perhaps most significantly with his decision to hire Chad Morris as offensive coordinator for the 2020 season. What was initially seen as a reunion of two offensive minds and close friends ultimately became a turning point that symbolized Auburn’s fall from competitive consistency to frustrating mediocrity.
In hindsight, the Morris hire is now widely regarded as not just a mistake, but possibly the worst singular head coaching hire in college football over the past 15 years — a designation that reflects both the disaster that was his Arkansas tenure and the ripple effects his brief stint at Auburn had on the program’s trajectory.
CBS Sports’ Will Backus recently labeled Morris’s head coaching run at Arkansas as a “disaster” — a term that could just as easily be used to describe his time as Auburn’s offensive coordinator. Morris’s offensive strategy was not just ineffective; it actively regressed the development of Auburn’s key playmakers. Bo Nix, who showed considerable promise as a freshman under Malzahn in 2019, appeared stifled and inconsistent in his sophomore season with Morris calling the plays. The offense lacked rhythm, creativity, and unpredictability — a shocking contrast to the fast-paced, up-tempo identity that had defined Malzahn’s early success at Auburn.
One of the biggest casualties of the Morris era was Tank Bigsby, one of the most talented running backs Auburn has had in recent memory. Despite flashes of brilliance, Bigsby was often misused or underutilized in a system that seemed to lack both direction and cohesion. The offense, which had once been Auburn’s calling card under Malzahn, became a glaring weakness. ESPN’s Alex Scarborough noted in his report on Malzahn’s firing that the offense had “stagnated in recent years.” From 2018 to 2020, Auburn ranked seventh in the SEC in points per game — a steep fall for a team that had previously competed for national titles.
Morris’s hiring was especially perplexing given his track record. His time at Arkansas was marked by historic underachievement. He went 4–18 over two seasons and failed to win a single SEC game. The Razorbacks were often uncompetitive under his watch, and his offensive reputation — forged during his time as Clemson’s offensive coordinator — was left in tatters. Bringing that level of failure into a high-pressure role at a program like Auburn was a gamble Malzahn couldn’t afford to lose. But lose it he did, and spectacularly.
For Malzahn, the Morris hire ultimately sealed his fate. Auburn finished the 2020 season 6–4 in a pandemic-shortened schedule — a record that, while not catastrophic, failed to meet expectations. More importantly, the product on the field looked uninspired. Auburn fans had grown weary of the inconsistency and offensive stagnation. The final straw was a lopsided loss to Alabama in the Iron Bowl, a game in which Morris’s offensive approach was again exposed as predictable and ineffective.
In the years since Malzahn’s firing, some Auburn supporters have come to question whether his dismissal was premature. His overall record (68–35) and consistent ability to compete against Alabama, LSU, and Georgia — at least more than most — have taken on a more favorable light as Auburn has struggled to find stability post-Malzahn. Still, it’s impossible to ignore how drastically things unraveled in 2020, and Morris remains a lasting symbol of that decline. In the end, the Morris hire wasn’t just a misstep — it was the moment where things truly fell apart for Gus Malzahn at Auburn.
